I found a badly pitted Marlin 336 that came with a very cheap price tag. I found some 000 steel wool and used some of Hoppes brand oil I have and gave it a good scrubbing. I expected the little remaining bluing to come right off and I was just going to give it a cold bluing to coat it again. None of the bluing came off from the steel wool that I could tell. I figured it would clean up to the bare steel. I didn’t really lay into it that hard but then again I don’t know the differences in bluing used or how it is applied. I have no doubt some if it came off but it was very minimal. So if you use some bronze or copper wool that is softer than steel and some good oil then you should be safe.